Method and appabatus fob casting in closed molds



Oct. 12, 1926. 1,602,987 H. P. MAUGHLIN METHOD AND APPARATUS FORCASTING-IN CLOSED MOLDS Filed Sept. 6, 1922 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 I 7 WWINVENTOR. I

3 2 I Fig. 2.

ATTORNEY.

H. P. MAUGHLIN METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR CASTING-IN 01,0521) MOLDS Oct.12 1926.

Filed Spt. 6, 1922 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Fig.5".

ATTORNEY.

-.Patented Oct. 12, 192 6.

i HARRY r. manenmmor COLUMBUS, 01110.

I I ETHOD AND APPARATUS FOR CASTING- IN CLOSED 'MOLDS.

-, A Application filed September 6, 1922. Serial No. 586,513.

In the past, in casting it has been the practice to convey the'moltenmetal from the'furnace to the mold in open ladles, particularly when asand mold was used. This method was disadvantageous, especially Wheresmall, sharp and flawless castings. were desired, because the metalcooled, while transporting it, to such a' degree that it was sluggishand would not fill the mold properly. It also made it necessary toprovide relatively large gates, which not only allowed impurities suchas slag or dross to get intothe casting, but were difficult to remove,thus increasing the cost of the completed casting.

Furthermore, the height of the sprue determined the head pressure ofmetal in the mold and, if the volume or drop of the metal was too great,it would cause washing of sand into the casting causing flaws. When toosmall a sprue or gates were used, the

metal as it is poured into the mold and also the volume of flow and headpressure. This accurate control makes it possible to secure very small,sharp and flawless castings with verypmallgates,which can be easily andcheaply removed without ,damage to the casting. These small gates have afurther important function in that they aid in keeping dross, slag andother impurities out of the mold, acting as a sort of strainer, thusreducing imperfect castings to a minimum. Another object of my inventionis practically filling the mold at comparative y low velocity andlighthead pressure, to obviate the washing of sand into the casting orforcincreasing the metal is-sufiiciently high to flow freely.

- This will insure a casting that is sharp,

' clean cut and of full size.

A further object of myinvention has to do with clearing the pouringnozzle of the furnace of metal and preventing it from freezing therein.

Various other features 'of my invention will be apparent as thisdescription progresscs and will be broughtout in the claims appendedhereto. The various objects of my, invention are preferably obtained bythe structure illustrated in the drawings, Whereinsimilar characters ofreference desi gnate corresponding parts, and Whercin Figure 1 is a sideelevation of my novel furnace and mold in their cooperative relation.

Figure 2 is a cross-section on line 2-2 of Figure 8 of my furnace nozzlein contact with the sprue plate of the mold.

my furnace 'ing in a closed mold is shown as comprising a substantiallyspherical furnace 1,'divided as at 2 for convcnience'in lining, and heldtogether by suitable fastenings. The furnace 1 is provided with acharging opening 3, a

hinged cover 4, and a truncated conical projtiClJlOIl 5, whereinisheldthe pouring nozz e 6.

The furnace is provided with a large hol low-trunnion 7, as best shownin Figure 6, haying an opening 8 for some suitable form of. heating unitfor'melting the charge, and a small trunnion9 which is supported by theframe bearing 10. The trunnion 7 is supported by-rollers 11 carried inthe bracket 12, which is in turn supported by the frame member 13. aing-the 'mold apart, and afterward uickl'. the pressure to complete tefil ing of,the mold, while the temperature of.

Depending from the lower part of the furnace are wings 14. to which are.secured the track-like members 15. It is obvious that the furnace can betilted about its horizontal axis and will carry the -t-rack-'likemembers 1'5 with it. To facilitate the tilting of the Figure 3 is afront elevation of the sprue pressure after the mold is 1 held a ainsttilting by the pins 36.

furnace I have provided the handle 16 fastened to the trunnion 7 of thefurnace by the lug 17.

The furnace structure is sup orted in a horizontal position by a supportar 18, pivoted as at 19 to the frame 13, notched as at 20 to coact withthe support rod 21 connecting the rails 15 near their outer ends.Adjacent the lower end of the support bar 18 is provided a foot 22 whichcoacts with the floor when in its disengaged position. It is evidentthat tiltin the furnace in a backward direction a su cient distance willraise the track 15 and release the support rod 21 from the notch 20 andallowing the bar 18 to swing outwardly and downwardly about its pivot 19until the foot 22 stops further motion by coming into contact with thefio'or. The furnace structure can then be tilted forward to an desiredposition, the support rod 21 clearlng the bar 18.

Resting on the track members 15, I have provided a car 23 which supportsa table 24 at an appreciable angle, as shown in Figure 1, by means of aball and socket connection 25. Secured to the table 24 by suitableclamps 26 is provided a conventional flask 27 having a mouth-like spruelate 28, for the3sprue opening 29, clampe thereto as at O.

The ball and socket connection 25 allows a limited adjustment of thetable 24 and flask 27, for the purpose of aligning the mouth-like s rueplate 28 with the pouring nozzle 6. The car 23 may then be moved towardthe-'f urnace sufficiently to bring the mouth-like sprue plate 28 intocooperative relation with the pouring nozzle 6 as best shown in Figure2.

It will be noted that the nozzle 6 fits the mouth-like sprue plate 28with aball and the furnace by some suitable means such as shown inFigure 1, comprising upstanding bars 33 and a wedge-like block 34, whichis forced between said bars 33 and the flask.

27 to hold the mouth-like s rue plate 28 thereof in coacting relationwit the nozzle 6. The upstanding bars 33 are vertically slidable in thechannel structures 35 and Ialil'e e channe structures 35 are secured tovthe track-like members 15 adjacent their outer ends. I have providedhook-like projections 37 near the uppgr ends of the bars 33 which allowof their ing lowered until the hooks 37 rest upon the upper edges of thechannels 35, after the wed e 34 is withdrawn for the removal of the ask27.

The level of the molten metal is held substantially on the line 38 byadditions, from time to time, through the charging openin 3.

Tt will be evident that at times there is a possibility of metalfreezing in the passage 39 of the sprue plate 28. To facilitate theremoval of such frozen metal, I have divided the sprue plate '28 on theline 40. The two halves are held together by the bolt 41 and the nut 42threaded thereto. 1 have also provided a dowel 43 which assists in hold-311g the two halves in proper correlation to each other and inpreventing any rotation of one half in relation to the other.

' The operation of my novel form of aparatus for casting in a closedmold is as ollows:

The molten metal being at proper temperature in the furnace, the mold isbrought into proper cooperative relation and securely fastened. Thehandle 16 is raised, tilting the furnace backward until the su port rod18 is released, whereupon the hen le is lowered with a continuous motionat a su1table speed through the position shown in Figure 4 and tosubstantially the position shown in Figure 5.

When the nozzle 6 becomes lower than the metal line 38, in the tiltingoperation, the metal fills the mold under a light head pressure, theflask 27 being substantially in a horizontal position as shown in Figure4. The filling of the mold under light-head pressure is very importantaslt obviates washing sand in the mold or swellin the casting due to thevelocity of the meta and V yieldability of the sand. It therefore in--sures against a swelled or enlarged casting. The continued tilting tothe pos tion shown in Figure 5 brings a comparatively high head pressureto bear upon the metal in the mold while still in a liquid state, thusforcing it under pressure to completely fill the mold. Owing to the factthat the temperature of the metal can be controlled so closely the moldbeing in direct con unction with the furnace, the gate openings can bemade much smaller than usual. This is important as it facilitates theremoval of, the gates from the casting, thereby saving time and expense.The small gate openings have the further advantage of assisting in theprevention of slag, dross and sand from entering the casting as the moldis bein filled.

The furnace is now tilted back to t e dotted line position, shown inFigure 1 and the metal from the nozzle and some from the sprue, which.beingcomparatively large and liquid state, flows back into the furnace.

The metal does not flow back from the casting itself, as sufficient timeis allowed, be

fore the above clearing of the nozzle operation, for the metal to freezein the gates, thus holding the casting intact. The furnace is thentilted down to its'original position,

resting upon the support 18, which 1s moved into cooperative relationwith the support rod 21 -by hand.

It willbe seen that the volume of flow is under complete control of theoperator, through the speed at which the furnace is tilted. It isobvious that my novel furnace and mold structure is applicable to aconsiderable range of metals and various kinds of castings but it isparticularly advantageous whetili sharp and clear cut castings aredesire v Having thus described my invention, what Iclaim is:

1. In casting apparatus, a furnace, a mold, and a common means formoving the said furnace and mold relative to each other.

2. In casting apparatus, a furnace tiltable about a horizontal axis, amold pivotally mounted adjacent said furnace, and a common means formoving the said furnace and mold relative to each other.

3. Casting apparatus comprising a furnace provided with an outlettiltable about a horizontal axis, a mold rovided with an inlet pivotallymounted a jacent the outlet of said furnace, means for clamping theinlet of said mold against the outlet of said furnace, and means formoving the said furnace andmold relative to each other. e

4. Casting apparatus comprising a furvnace provided with an outlettiltable about a horizontal axis, a nozzle disposed in said outlet, amold provided with an inlet pivotally mounted adjacent the outlet ofsaid nace, a sprue plate disposed about the inlet furnace, means forclamping the inlet of said mold against the outlet of said furnace, andmeans for moving said furnace and mold relative to each other.

5. Casting apparatus comprising a furnace provided with an outlettiltable about a horizontal axis, a nozzle disposed in said outlet, amold provided with an inlet pivotally, mounted adjacent the outlet ofsaid furnace, means for clamping the inlet ofs'aid mold against theoutlet of said. furnace, and means for simultaneously moving saidfurmice and mold relative to each other.-

6. Casting apparatus comprising a fur nace provided wlth an outlettiltable about a horizontal axis, a nozzle disposed 1n sald outlet, amold provided with an inlet lvotally mounted adjacent the outlet of saifursignature.

of said mold and adapted to enfia e said nozzle, and means for movingsai urnace and mold-relative to each other.

7. Casting apparatus comprising a fur; nace provided with'an outlettiltable about a horizontal axis, a nozzle disposed in said outlet, amold rovided with an inlet pivotally mounted a j acent the outlet ofsaid furnace, a sprue plate disposed about the inlet ofsaid mold, meanscarried by said sprue plate to receive the said nozzle and hold same insubstantially air tight relation, and. means for moving said furnace andmold relative to each other.

8. In casting apparatus, a furnace, a mold, and means for movin the saidfurnace and mold together and re ative to each other.

9. In casting apparatus, a furnace tiltable' about -a horizontal axis, amold pivotally mounted adjacent said furnace, and means for movingthesaid furnace and mold together and relative to each other.

10. In casting apparatus, a furnace, a mold, and means for moving thesaid furnace and mold relative to each other and then moving bothtogether.

11. In casting apparatus, ajurnace tiltable about a horizontal axis,a-mold pivotally mounted adjacent said furnace, and means for moving thesaidfurnace and mold relative to each other and then moving both'together.

12. The method of casting metals which comprises pouring at one pressurefor a part of the pouring operation and then at an increased pressurefor the balance of the pour ing operation.

13. The method of casting metals in sand molds which comprises pouringthe molten metal into a sand mold at one pressure for a part of thepouring operation and then at an 1ncreased pressure for the balance ofthe pourin operation.

14,15 casting apparatus comprising a tiltable furnace, a track structureattached thereto, a car resting on said track and supporting a mold inuniversal relation thereto,

cooperaits - In testimony whereof I hereby afiix my' HARRY P. MAUGHLIN.

